Did you hear the news? Submissions to New Australian Fiction 2024 are now open!

Our annual anthology showcases stories from Australia’s best and brightest established and emerging writers—this could be you! We encourage writers from diverse backgrounds and all levels of experience to submit to this collection, and we will be considering all genres.

To get you excited about writing, we’ve put together a list of recent KYD articles that explore craft and writing practice, plus some courses that you might find helpful in developing your short story submission.

Happy reading and we look forward to reading your work!

SETTING & LANDSCAPE

‘A writing exercise got me thinking about the difference between seeing and remembering.’
Ronnie Scott in ‘Setting and the Subtleties of Perspective’.


SUGGESTED COURSE PAIRING:

Writing Landscape in Short Fiction with Alice Bishop

 

A white timber signpost against a blue sky, with arrows saying "THAT WAY", "THIS WAY" and "ANOTHER WAY" all pointing in different directions.

PERFECT ENDINGS

‘For writers and readers, the end of a story is not just a summing up or a happily-ever-after—it’s the resolution of an unspoken promise you make at the start of your shared journey.’
Cate Kennedy in ‘A Good Ending is Only the Beginning’.


SUGGESTED COURSE PAIRING:

Crafting Endings in Short Fiction with Cate Kennedy

 

EXPERIMENTATION

‘Australian fiction has long been dominated by the realist novel […] but are experimental and offbeat stories always destined to be relegated to a literary niche?’
Nina Culley in ‘Weird is In’.

 

A vintage photograph of An Aboriginal man with short dark hair, wearing white shorts and white strapping around his fists, which are raised in a boxing stance.

SPECULATIVE FICTION

‘Driven by my deep personal quest for cultural connection and knowledge, I am learning to embrace imagination to fill the spaces that research cannot.’
Edoardo Crismani in ‘How Speculative Fiction Helped Me Own My Story’.


SUGGESTED COURSE PAIRING:

Writing Speculative Short Stories with Lisa L. Hannett

 

Two hands rest in soapy bathwater.

OVERCOMING WRITERS’ BLOCK

‘There was a deadline. I had been meaning to send the email for more than a week. And here I was, sitting with my laptop open.’
Em Meller in ‘The Humiliation of Writing Fiction’.


SUGGESTED COURSE PAIRING:

Switching Up Your Writing Process with Jamie Marina Lau

If you’re looking for more inspiration or guidance in crafting your short story, check out our full range of courses: